


Speak

by Lotus_Dumplings



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Awkwardness, Language, Language Barrier, Languages and Linguistics, M/M, my baby beans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 16:26:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19088743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lotus_Dumplings/pseuds/Lotus_Dumplings
Summary: Kiku thought he was ready. He thought he could handle Berlin. He thought everything would be okay.Everything was not okay.-----GerPan for rarepair week.





	Speak

**Author's Note:**

> Kiku is ill prepared for Germany, Ludwig is helpful, they're both super gay, and Feliciano calls them out on it. Might write more one day. Literally submitted five minutes befors midnight. Translations at the end.

Kiku thought he was ready. He thought he could handle Berlin. He thought everything would be okay.

Everything was not okay.

Kiku had passed his tests and learned the grammar. He'd committed the vocabulary and phrases to memory. Hell, he'd even tried his hardest to imitate his teacher's voice to try and get an understanding of the accent. 

Except none of that seemed to apply here. The grammar was not the same, the vocab was foreign, the speed at which people spoke was far too fast, and the accent was way different than his teacher's. It was so guttural, so foreign, and utterly terrifying. 

In hindsight, Kiku should've expected something like this. He himself knew a few different dialects of Japanese—and he knew how different they could be—but he just didn't expect it to be this bad. He didn't expect not to understand anyone.

Perhaps someone knew English? He could possibly try to use the few English phrases he'd remembered from high school. But he couldn't ensure that would even work.

He sighed. He probably seemed mildly annoyed to any onlookers, but hell if he wasn't panicking. He looked back at his phone screen, as if staring at it would make his life any easier. He looked up to the people around him. Most ignored him, though some spared him a glance before quickly turning away. He would probably do the same if he was back home, but now that he was on the other end of the stick, he was oddly irked.

He was seriously considering seeking out the police when someone tapped his shoulder, making him jump. The man—a brunette, perhaps his age—spoke fast, and smooth. Kiku looked on in confusion, until he heard a familiar word: _hilfe_.

"Help," Kiku repeated quickly, his brain taking over. "I need help." 

The man's mouth opened to form an 'o' shape, before he turned to someone behind him. He was taller than them both, towering over Kiku (which, admittedly, wasn't much of an accomplishment). His hair was gelled back in strands and his eyes were a light blue. Kiku blinked. Then he swallowed. 

Kiku stared. The man stared back. It probably would've gone on like that a lot longer of it hadn't been for the sound of a throat clearing, snapping them out of their daze. The first man spoke those fast words again, though he grinned this time. The blonde coughed.

"I'm sorry, you said you needed help?" 

Kiku sighed in relief. "Yes, I do. I need help finding my hotel, but my phone died." 

The other nodded. "I see. And you don't know any _Berlinisch_? Just _Hochdeutsch_?" Upon seeing Kiku's confused face, he said, "I suppose not. They're the German dialects. _Hochdeutsch_ is taught in schools, but most people in Berlin don't really care for it." 

"Oh. Well, yes, I did learn German in school. I thought I could practice in Germany." Kiku looked down at his baggage in shame. "I suppose I was ill prepared." 

"You'll get the hang of it. Feliciano is learning entirely from experience." 

The other man looked up suddenly. " _Dat bin Icke. Jap?_ "

" _Jap._ " The brunette grinned. "That's Feliciano," the man clarified. "I'm Ludwig." 

Kiku nodded, bowing a bit on instinct. "I'm Kiku." 

"Kiku," Ludwig said, testing the name on his lips. "Well, your German is very good. A bit practiced, but you're doing well. You could've probably gone to Hanover to practice Hochdeutsch, but you can get around in Berlin. Just don't be afraid to ask for help. Now where were you headed?" 

They ended up walking Kiku to his hotel. They—well, really Feliciano with Ludwig translating—told him they were headed to F'shain, or Friedrichshain, to meet up with Ludwig's older brother. He told Kiku a bit about his brother, things to be careful for in Berlin, and some good wishes. 

"Thank you," Kiku said, when they had arrived. He smiled a bit. 

Ludwig swallowed, trying his best to return the gesture. "It's really no problem." He pulled a notepad and a pen from his jacket pocket. He scribbled something down quickly, before ripping a page out and handing it to him. "If you ever need me, just call." 

Behind them, Feliciano squealed, and Kiku turned sharply. He raised an eyebrow, before it hit him. To someone without context, it looked as if Ludwig was giving a man his number. Which he was. Kiku blushed a bit in embarrassment.

He turned back to Ludwig, who had come to the same realization, and coughed. "Thank you." 

"Y-yeah. No problem." They stood there awkwardly for a moment. "Well… goodbye." 

"Oh, yes. Farewell." 

They still stood there. Kiku found himself taking a bit more of Ludwig in. He was a bit on the muscular side, though he kind of had a baby face. And his lips were pink. Holy fuck his lips were pink.

Feliciano coughed, and Kiku jumped. 

"Right! Right! We have to go," Ludwig said hurriedly. Kiku nodded, watching as the two walked off. Feliciano looked back, however, and winked.

\-----

"Wow. Didn't know you were into twinks." 

"Shut up!"

**Author's Note:**

>  _Hilfe_ , Help.  
>  _Berlinisch_ , Berlin Dialect.  
>  _Hochdeutsch_ , High/standard German.  
>  _Dat bin Icke_ , That's me.  
>  _Jap_ , Yep.  
> Friedrichshain, A former neighborhood in East Berlin, now a funky place to hang out.


End file.
